Fiery Car Crash Fatally Injures 5 Foreign Students And 1 American

February 22, 2009 (by Otto Smyth)

According to reports by the California Highway Patrol a vehicle carrying foreign students in southern California crashed fatally injuring six of the seven people involved in the accident.

The crash occurred late Thursday on the 101 Highway in the vicinity of Los Alamos, part way between Santa Maria and Solvang, known as a California vineyard region.

According to the California Highway Patrol spokesperson Fran Clader, the vehicle drifted into the center median, the driver then over corrected the vehicle and lost control. The vehicle then crossed the southbound lanes where it then traveled down an incline and struck a tree. The reason the vehicle drifted into the center median is unknown at this time.

Six students were fatally injured in the crash, all reportedly in their 20’s, two of which were ejected from the vehicle. there were three French women, a Russian and Turkish women also fatally injured and an American man identified as being in his 30’s and a professional in San Francisco.

The driver a French woman identified as Jeanne Ostrowski age 19 was hospitalized with major injuries and is expected to survive according to spokesman Clader.

The foreigners in the vehicle were attending a private school where they were studying English in San Francisco. It was also reported one of the French women was attending a ballet school that was involved in the crash.